Adjustable garment



Nov. 1, 1955 J. w. THIELMAN ADJUSTABLE GARMENT Filed Jan. 24, 1952 INVENTOR. JEAN CW. 77uum 2 1/ arroeh/a Y' United States Patent ADJUSTABLE GARMENT Jean W. Thielman, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application January 24, 1952, Serial No. 267,976

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-76) My invention relates to garments, including childrens dresses, maternity dresses, womens, mens and boys coats, etc. and including any garment which it may be desired to subsequently enlarge either in girth or in the length, or in both length and girth, the invention being an improvement upon that disclosed in my application Serial No. 222,812, filed April 25, 1951 (Patent No. 2,588,453).

Heretofore, garments made in such manner as to provide for enlargement in width or girth have originally had vertical tucks formed therein to be later let out, or

edge portions of the cloth have been extended past a vertical stitch line, which stitching will later be removed and a new seam sewed along lines closer to the edges of the cloth. In the first instance, the pleats are objectionable not only because they are clearly noticeable in the garment as originally made, but scuif lines are exposed when the garment has been let out through removal of the tuck seam. In the other instance, a resewing is required.

My invention has for one of its objects the provision of a garment which is of such form that it can be enlarged in either vertical or horizontal directions simply by taking out temporary stitching when it is desired to make the garment of greater girth or of increased length, from its original condition.

Another object of my invention is to provide an adjustable garment of the character referred to, wherein provision is made for concealment of fold lines or scufi lines when the garment has been enlarged.

A further object is to so form and arrange let-out tucks and folds at the vertical opening of a garment, as to retain the original style and proportions, when the garment is enlarged, and there is no pronounced evidence that a tuck or fold has been let out, as above referred to.

Still another object of my invention is to provide means for enlarging the width of a garment that can be opened along a vertical line at either the front or the back, with fastening devices such as buttons, zippers and snaps, the adjusting means being provided adjacent to or at the fastening devices and not requiring any removal and relocation of the fastening devices.

Figure 1 is a rear view of a childs dress that embodies my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the vertical folds of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows the folds-of Fig. 2 expanded or let out; Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on the lines IVIV and VV respectively, of Fig. 1; Figs. 6 and 7 show a modification of the fold arrangements of Figs. 2 and 3; Figs. 8 and 9 show a modification wherein a zipper type fastening is employed, in both the original and let-out condition of the folds; Fig. 10 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 but showing the use of snap fasteners, and Fig. 11 shows a let-out arrangement for lined coats to permit of increasing the length of the coat material and its lining.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, a rear view of the garment is shown in Fig. 1, the garment being open at its back and having the divided back parts 8 and 9 with their edge portions 10 and 11 folded backwardly, and temporarily stitched at 12 and 13 respectively. In this instance, the folded-back portion 10 is on the outer face of the garment portion 8 and the folded-back portion 11 on the inner face of the adjacent portion 9 of the garment. Buttonholes 14 and buttons 15 are provided for the folds 10 and 11, the buttons, of course, being engageable with buttonholes 14 before and after the garment is let out for enlargement, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen that the buttons 15 are not visible on the exposed face of the garment, either before letting out the garment for increase in width or after the garment has been let out in Fig. 3. These folds at 10 and 11 may extend the full length of the garment, or to a slight distance below the belt line as is common with childrens dresses.

If it is desired to make the garment for expansion or extension only to adjust it widthwise of the body of the wearer, the releasable folds 10 and 11 will sufiice. However, if it is desired that the garment shall be also increasable as to length, the shirt portion or upper portion of the garment will have a horizontal tuck formed therein, as shown in Fig. 4. To this end, the garment completely around its circumference, including the folded back parts 10-11, is tucked by folding it backwardly and upwardly as shown at 16 and thence downwardly, to form a tuck, as shown at 17, temporary stitching being provided at 18 for removal in order to lengthen the garment. A flounce or other trimming 19 is sewed to the garment at the fold line 16 to conceal strips of contrasting color which may appear when the garment is let down after a period of wear. The flounce 19 can, of course, be dispensed with, and also the tuck at 1617 can be made in the opposite direction. That is, the garment can be folded outwardly, upwardly, and thence downwardly, if desired.

Instead of lengthening the upper portion of the garment as above described, the tuck of Fig. 4 can be omitted and a tuck simply provided in the skirt portion as shown in Fig. 5, wherein a tuck 21 may be formed and temporarily stiched in place at 22. A flounce 23 is provided to conceal the tucked material when let out. In this case as in Fig. 4, the skirt is folded backwardly and upwardly at 24 and thence downwardly. The dress can therefore be lengthened without disturbing the hem 25.

In Figs. 6 and 7, I show a modification of the arrangement of Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the fold 26 that carries the buttons 27 is folded backwardly against the inner face of the cloth 8, while the fold 28 that carries the buttonholes 29 is folded outwardly on its part 9 of the garment, the Figs. 6 and 7 respectively showing the garment in its original position and in its let-out or expanded condition.

.iusual balls 43 and sockets 44.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, I show an arrangement similar to that of Fig. 2, but wherein a zipper type fastener is provided instead of the buttons and buttonholes of Fig. 2. In this instance, the folds 31 and 32 correspond to the folds 11 and 10. The fold 31 is temporarily maintained in position by temporary stitching at 33, and the fold 32 temporarily held by stitching 34 which also extends through the body portion 9a of the cloth in which the fold 31 is formed. Zipper tapes 35 and 36 are attached to the folded-back edge portions of the cloth and their hooks are releasably connected by the usual slide 37. Flounce strips or rufiies 38 and 39 are secured to the folds 32 and 31 respectively, so that when the garment is let out to its enlarged position, as indicated in Fig. 9, the flounce strips at the exposed face of the garment will conceal or at least render less obvious the presence of crease lines at the folds.

In Fig. 10, I show an arrangement whereby snap fasteners of the ball-and-socket type are employed instead of the buttons and buttonholes or the zippers. In this case, the folded-back portions 41 and 42 correspond to the folds at 10 and 11, and they respectively carry the When the temporary 3 stitching at 45 and 46 is removed, the garment will become expanded somewhat, as indicated in Fig. 3.

While Fig. 1 shows a childs dress, it will be apparent that various of the expansible fastening. devices can be used'also in most types of garments that open at the front, including. womens, mens and boys clothing.

Also, it will he understood that ruffi'es or trim strips similar to 38 and 39' can be fastenedto the folds shown in Figs. 2, 6 and 10.

In Fig. 11, I show a lined coat whose outer layer. of material has a horizontal tuck 48 formed therein and temporarily stitched at 49 as in the case of the tuck 24 and stitching 22 in Fig. 5. A trim strip 50 is connected to this outer tuck to conceal a scuff line when the coat islet down. The usual intermediate lining 51 is provided; which need have no tuck formed therein, since it will not matter if it is a little shorter than the other goods when the tucks are let out. The innermost, or decorative lining 52' has a tuck 53 therein folded outwardly, upwardly and downwardly instead of backward- 1y, upwardly and downwardly as in the case of the tuck 48. Temporary stitching 54 is provided and a flounce strip 55 sewed to the tuck will preferably be of the same material as the lining 52. Here, too, there is avoidance of scufi line appearance when the garment has been let out. i.

I claim as my invention: 1. A dress having a vertical opening extending downwardly from its neck, one vertical portion alongside the opening being folded backwardly against the adjacent inner face of the garment and stitched thereto adjacent to its edge, and the other vertical portion alongside the opening being folded against the adjacent outer face of the garment and stitched thereto adjacent to its edge, whereby when said stitchings are removed, the folds can open for expansion, to adapt the garment to an increase in girth of the wearer, and interconnectible fastening devices secured to the said edges of the folded portions in position to releasably connect them together, either in their folded-back positions or when opened.

2. A dress as recited in claim 1, wherein the fastening devices comprise buttonholes in one fold and buttons on the other fold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,607,537 Miles July 15, 1913 2,044,668 Cukor June 16, 1936 2,254,929 Bertolami Sept. 2, 1941 2,324,371 Deichert July 13, 1943 2,331,626 Perlitch Oct. 12, 1943 2,570,777 Dessauer Oct. 9, 1951 2,588,453 Thielman Mar. 11, 1952 2,617,991 Killeen Nov. 18, 1952 

